What does it mean when the Missouri AG approves an initiative petition 'as to form,' and what happens next in the Missouri ballot process?

Plain-English summary

This is one of five form-review opinion letters AG Eric Schmitt issued on the same day (June 27, 2019) for five different versions (6 through 10) of an initiative petition by Mary Anne Sedey, all proposing amendments to Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution governs suffrage and elections.

Under § 116.332 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, when the Secretary of State receives an initiative petition, he must submit it to the AG for review of its "sufficiency as to form." That review is a narrow gatekeeping check: does the petition meet the procedural and structural requirements that initiative petitions must satisfy under Missouri law? The AG approved the form of Version 6, designated 2020-077, on June 27, 2019.

The opinion letter is careful to call out three limits on what form approval does and does not mean. First, § 116.332 gives the Secretary of State final authority to approve or reject the petition; the AG's form approval does not bind the Secretary. Second, "sufficiency as to form" is not "sufficiency as to substance"; the AG is not opining on whether the proposal is constitutional, legally workable, or wise. Third, because the AG's review is statutorily mandated, the AG's action carries no endorsement of the petition or its objectives, and expresses no view on the petition's "adequacy or inadequacy" generally.

What the form review actually catches in practice: proper formatting, the required statements and notices, attachment of the proposed constitutional language, the proper title and caption, and the basic structural elements set by § 116.332 and surrounding statutes. Substance, drafting quality, and legal effect are someone else's call.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2019. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What does Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution cover?
A: Article VIII addresses suffrage and elections (qualifications of voters, registration, election procedures, certain election-related rights). Sedey's Version 6 proposed to amend that article. The specific substantive content of Version 6 is in the petition itself, which is filed with the Secretary of State.

Q: Why are there five versions filed the same day?
A: Petition proponents routinely file multiple drafts with the Secretary of State to test which version will best survive form and substance review, ballot title challenges, and signature-gathering. Each version gets its own state-file number. The proponent then chooses which version to actually circulate for signatures.

Q: What happens after AG form approval?
A: The Secretary of State certifies (or rejects) the petition as to form. The State Auditor prepares a fiscal note. The Secretary of State and AG together prepare a ballot title (summary statement) under § 116.334. The proponent then has a fixed number of months (and a signature threshold) to gather valid voter signatures from a required number of congressional districts.

Q: Does form approval mean the petition will appear on the ballot?
A: No. Form approval is one early gate. The petition still has to clear ballot title challenges (which can be litigated), gather enough signatures across the right districts, and survive Secretary of State certification of signatures.

Background and statutory framework

Missouri's initiative process is in Chapter 116 of the Missouri Revised Statutes. Section 116.332 sets the procedural review steps for initiative petitions, including AG form review. Article III, § 50 of the Missouri Constitution is the underlying grant of the people's initiative power for both statutes and constitutional amendments.

The five-letter cluster (Opinions 100-2019 through 104-2019, versions 6 through 10) reflects the strategic reality of initiative drafting in Missouri. Each version usually differs only in narrow respects (a word in a definition, a single subsection, an effective date). Proponents file them in parallel so that if one version is later challenged on substance or title grounds, another can be substituted without restarting the clock.

Citations

• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.332 (initiative petition form review)
• Mo. Const. art. III, § 50 (initiative power)
• Mo. Const. art. VIII (suffrage and elections, the proposed amendment target)

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/100-2019.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Original opinion text

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ERIC SCHMITT

June 27, 2019

OPINION LETTER NO. 100-2019

The Honorable John R. Ashcroft
Missouri Secretary of State
James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center
600 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101

Dear Secretary Ashcroft:

This opinion letter responds to your request dated June 17, 2019, for our review under § 116.332, RSMo, of the sufficiency as to form of an initiative petition to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution submitted by Mary Anne Sedey, Version 6 (2020-077).

We approve the petition as to form, but § 116.332 gives the Secretary of State final authority to approve or reject the petition. Therefore, our approval of the form of the petition does not preclude you from rejecting the petition.

Because our review of the petition is simply for the purpose of determining sufficiency as to form, the fact that we do not reject the petition is not to be construed as a determination that the petition is sufficient as to substance. Likewise, because our review is mandated by statute, no action that we take with respect to such review should be construed as an endorsement of the petition or of the objectives of its proponents, or the expression of any view respecting the adequacy or inadequacy of the petition generally.

ERIC S. SCHMITT
Attorney General

OP-2019-0117